Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?! Volume 9

by Funa

  In short, it was survival of the fittest.

  Mile took her tent out of her inventory as she always did, followed by a stove, table, and chairs, along with cooking implements and ingredients. Pauline began chopping up the ingredients to make soup.

  “Droplets dance, spin, and boil! Hrah! Hwahhwahhraaah!!!”

  She had placed the ingredients and water straight into the dishes and heated them there, so there was no need to ladle out the soup or wash any pots. Seeing this, Reina sighed. “This really is more convenient. I know we have to pass ourselves off as a normal C-rank party when we’re on guard duty, but I hate all the extra work we have to do…”

  It was true. While they were on their last job, they had used Reina’s fireball as their teakettle instead of Pauline’s special molecular oscillation magic, thinking that it would invite too much interest to let the elves see such a maneuver.

  At any rate, now that they were alone, they could use their magic freely.

  “Wind Edge!”

  Behind them, Mavis was using her Wind Edge to chop up some boar legs that Mile had taken from her inventory. As in Pauline and Reina’s case, she had hesitated to use this skill in front of the elves, who were very familiar with magic, given that she believed she was using a special, secret technique of harnessing spiritual power. Wind Edge was still too crude to use to cut into the belly without slicing through viscera, so she used a kitchen knife for more precise cuts. Likewise, she used a skinning knife to carefully remove the pelts, which could be sold.

  Any time she got it in her mind to use her dagger for cooking or skinning, she could swear she heard a faint crying from somewhere, so she refrained.

  “It’s so much easier and more relaxing when no one else is around,” the four sighed, thinking how much more constricted they felt on days when they had to worry about who might be watching.

  “Mavis, we can give you a good cleaning and a hot shower later, so don’t even worry about getting dirty!” added Reina.

  “Oh, thanks! I was just gonna prep enough for tonight, but I’ll go ahead and cut up the whole thing!”

  Naturally, Mile had taught both Reina and Pauline to create warm showers with magic, so there was no need for Mavis to balk at the thought of getting sweaty or ending up covered in beast blood. This was a blessing she gladly accepted…as long as there were no other hunters or clients around.

  ***

  “Let’s go.”

  The next morning, after finishing a simple breakfast and completing the instantaneous work of packing up their tent, the Crimson Vow exited the forest and continued straight on. After proceeding for a short while, they came upon a path. It was probably one along which people traveled when they wished to reap the blessings of the forest, gathering wild vegetables and fruits, collecting herbs and kindling, and hunting beasts and monsters—which meant that following it should lead them to the nearest village.

  The girls, of course, had no business in any village and didn’t intend to even stick around for tea. They merely wished to drop in and see what damage had been done.

  The Crimson Vow had been able to obtain certain information from the guildhall at the last town where they had stayed. Apparently, while no one in the neighboring country had died during the prior monster-suppression incident, the royal army had taken a fair number of casualties, several hunters had been mildly injured, and some of the fields of the local villages damaged.

  The soldiers had undoubtedly taken so many injuries because they gave their all to the battle at hand, unlike hunters, who would save their own hides and let the monsters go if things got dangerous for them. On this front, there was a clear difference between soldiers and the free agents known as hunters.

  As far as the Crimson Vow were concerned, their job was done; this affair no longer had anything to do with them. The fact that they were curious about what had happened as a result of a job that they had already completed, and hoped to see it for themselves, was proof of a softheartedness that was not often praised by those in their profession.

  It was something that, in the future, would do them more harm than good.

  “………”

  They had not yet seen anything resembling a village, but the fields were now coming into view—as well as what probably used to be more fields.

  This was likely the aftermath of where the monsters had run amok. There were signs of repairs happening here and there, but it would take quite some time before the crushed, trampled fields could be restored to their former glory. As the party continued on, observing the fields out of the corners of their eyes, they noticed a group of children ahead of them.

  “Are they coming back from gathering in the forest?” Mile asked curiously. “Seems a bit early for that…”

  Pauline looked to her and said, puzzled, “Mile, you—or really, all of us, are not exactly morning people. We usually wake up late. Farmers all wake up at the crack of dawn and start work first thing. They go back home to eat between the second morning bell and the first midday bell, and then after their meal break they go back out and work the evening through until dark. It’s not at all odd to see them heading back home right about now.”

  “Oh, so they only eat twice a day, then? Brunch and dinner?” asked Mile.

  “Brunch?” asked the other three.

  “It’s a meal that combines breakfast and lunch!”

  “Isn’t that just first lunch? They call it that in your country too, don’t they?”

  “Ah, yeah… Ahaha.”

  Most modern townspeople in this world ate three times a day, as did nobles and academy students. Even hunters were not usually foolish enough to put their bodies in danger of overexertion by working on an empty stomach until midday or to stuff themselves with first lunch, which would restrict their movement and could lead to fatal injury—especially if they took injuries to the abdomen during their afternoon endeavors. Therefore, all four members of the Crimson Vow had led a three-meal life until that point…except for the scant few times when they had been temporarily restricted by being on the move as part of a job with other people.

  When they were all alone, preparing a simple meal took no time at all. They just dined on boxed lunches or sandwiches from Mile’s storage. The party was already aware of the secret of Mile’s time-static storage magic (read: inventory), so she was free to use it without restriction.

  “Well, why don’t we try talking to those kids?”

  They had no intention of actually going into the village, but it should be fine for them to at least talk to some of the villagers. Mile ran up to the children, calling out to them. The children, however, froze—the older boys forming a barrier for the girls and the younger children to hide behind them. They were on high alert.

  “Wh…?”

  Mile was taken aback. Ever since she was reincarnated and regained her memories, and then enrolled at Eckland Academy, she had always been fairly good with children.

  “Aha… Mile, could you take out two or three orcs for a minute?”

  “Huh? O-okay…”

  While she did not understand the reasoning behind Pauline’s request, Mile did as she was told and took three orcs out of storage. Pauline then turned to the children, whose eyes were wide with shock, and explained, “You see? Despite how we look, we’re all super-strong hunters. We’re not empty-handed because we’re here to poach your prey or steal from the village; we just happen to have a storage magic user on hand. We have plenty of other game and spoils in here too, so we don’t need to take any of the herbs and vegetables you all have gathered.”

  “Ah…” said the other three.

  A party of four girls who all appeared to be novice hunters, half of them underage (or so it would seem) had just emerged from the forest empty-handed and approached a group of children with foraged goods in hand. And then there was the fact that they were armed with weapons…

  “Yeah, I guess that would make anyone nervous…”

  “I see. So everyone in the v
illage was safe, but some of the hunters and soldiers were hurt, and part of the fields were damaged?”

  “Mm-hm… We reckoned we had to try and earn a little bit if we could, so we’ve been goin’ out into the woods to pick anything that we can eat or sell.” Thanks to Pauline’s careful explanation, the children had calmed down and told the Crimson Vow a number of things about the village.

  “B-but that’s so dangerous!” cried Mile, her face paling. “Even if it’s just the outskirts, the forest is still the forest! There are monsters in there! With just a group of children, even a goblin or just a few kobolds could mean the end of you!”

  The children looked at her coolly.

  “Yeah, but there aren’t any monsters in the outskirts anymore. Normally, we’d never be allowed to go into the woods all by ourselves, but until the old huntsmen tell us that the monsters have come back, we’ve got special permission.”

  “Hm…?”

  Apparently, thanks to the stampede that Mile had caused, the battle to drive the monsters back had grown so fierce that the monsters had been pushed back too far into the forest. Goblins, ogres, and other dangerous monsters were one thing, but the counter-offensive had driven away even jackalopes, orcs, and normal prey like deer and boar, which were sources of meat, hides, horns, and tusks. Thus, the huntsmen had no choice but to delve deeper into the forest, and until the monsters returned to the area, even children were permitted to go foraging on its outskirts.

  There was silence from three of the members of the Crimson Vow.

  “Wh-what are you all staring at me for?!” Mile groused as their gazes triangulated on her. Of course, she had put the stampede plan into motion after discussing it with them, so they were really in no position to criticize her. However…

  “Mile! Limits!”

  “Common sense!”

  “Discretion!”

  “Nnnn…”

  After handing the children a share of their spoils, which they would be able to sell for a few silver pieces, the Crimson Vow followed the joyfully gamboling bunch into town. They had no use for this village, but they did plan on staying a few nights in the next proper town they came to. It was not a bad idea to get a more regional perspective of the country before heading into its capital.

  ***

  Cling-a-ling.

  “Huh?”

  The moment that the Crimson Vow entered the new guildhall, they froze in shock.

  “What was that sound?”

  Guild doorbells normally made a deep, resonant sound—not the dainty noise they had just heard. Seeing the four standing stock-still, the other hunters and guild staff grimaced. Apparently, every new hunter to show up at the branch had the same reaction.

  “There was a fight a little while ago, and the Guild standard bell got caught in the crossfire. It broke. We’ve got a new one on order,” said a middle-aged hunter standing nearby.

  “Th-thank you very much,” Mavis replied.

  I knew it, Mile thought to herself. They’re all the same standardized bell! I did think that it sounded the same everywhere we went…

  The other three all nodded approvingly, as though they had been thinking something along those same lines.

  Starting over, Mavis, the party leader, turned to the room and gave a formal greeting.

  “We are the C-rank party, the Crimson Vow, registered to the capital guild branch in the kingdom of Tils! We are currently on a training journey. It’s a pleasure to make everyone’s acquaintance!”

  “Pleased to meet you!” said the other three in turn.

  From around the room came a number of brief replies, some ohs, and a few words of praise. These hunters seemed to be a friendly bunch, which put the members of the Crimson Vow at ease.

  Next, the girls went to check in with their old friends, the information board and the job board.

  “Monsters have disappeared from the outskirts of the forest near the border, so fulfilling hunting requests will require traveling farther than usual into the forest. Beginners should exercise caution, it says.”

  As Mavis read the information off of the board, the faces of the three members of the Crimson Vow twisted. Apparently, they had made things a bit difficult for the local novice hunters—and for the villagers and soldiers, but they weren’t overly concerned about that part of the equation. This country was the one that had started the cycle of harassment to begin with, so they were in no position to complain. They’d been the one to cause trouble for the people of Marlane, the kingdom they had last resided in, and there had been injuries and even deaths amongst the local soldiers and hunters near the border. Worse still, it had all been done intentionally, with malice aforethought.

  Indeed, this kingdom should feel grateful that they had the consideration to make sure that none of the soldiers here had ended up dead. If anything, the farmers of this kingdom should be holding their own government responsible…not that any of them were actually in a position to do so, of course.

  It was just, well, the forest was probably an important source of earnings for the fledgling hunters who had yet to make C-rank. And so, the way the Crimson Vow had done it was a little—maybe just a tiny bit unkind—particularly when the four of them thought back to their very first paying jobs during their time at the Hunters’ Prep School.

  As for the hunters who had been hired by the royal army to help drive back the monsters overflowing from the forest and had gotten hurt… Well, they had made an independent assessment of their own abilities and taken the job for pay. Some amongst them had probably even helped driven back monsters in the forest before. Hired mercenaries could not complain about being killed by enemy mercenaries—it was as good as in their job description.

  There were no other items of consequence posted on the information board. They moved to check the job board, but there were no interesting or unusual jobs there, either. Even if there had been some, they had probably already been snapped up by local hunters.

  “There’s nothing good here,” said Reina.

  “None of these pay well,” griped Pauline.

  “I don’t think any of these would be good training or experience,” muttered Mavis.

  As always, the trio’s complaints were rather presumptuous, but they were young people on a journey of learning, on the hunt for experiences that would facilitate their growth. Knowing this, the more senior hunters, who remembered such a time in their own youth, could only look on with a wry smile.

  Hm?

  Suddenly, Mile noticed one of the hunters, who was eating over in the dining corner, staring at her.

  I wonder what that’s about…

  Not once did the thought occur to Mile that someone might just think that she was cute—even though that was probably all it was.

  Could there actually be someone who I’ve met before in a town that I’ve never been to? O-oh no!

  Much as it seemed inconceivable to Mile, who was bad with faces, there were people in the world who had access to a ridiculous cheat code that allowed them to remember anyone they’d met even once. Mile could not even begin to fathom such an ability. For her part, she had trouble remembering faces even after having met someone a number of times. She was convinced that it was the same for most other people—that they, too, had to distinguish people by their clothes or what they talked about, rather than their appearances.

  D-d-d-d-don’t tell me—did they see me in my Goddess Phenomenon form? Could there be someone who was a hired hunter in the monster-driving force…who also possesses the legendary cheat code to remember the face of someone they’ve only met once?

  Sweat began to drip down Mile’s temples.

  Meanwhile, the man, a hunter in his late twenties, realized that Mile had noticed his gaze and was staring back at him. Seeing that she appeared to be terribly shaken, he became even more frantic himself.

  The two continued to stare at each other in frozen silence.

  “What are you staring at that man for?!” shouted Reina.

&n
bsp; “Uh, no, I was just…” Mile panicked.

  The man appeared to be suffering similar taunts from the hunters near him.

  The other three members of the Crimson Vow cast Mile dubious looks.

  Gaaaaaaaaah!!!

  In this moment, the hearts of Mile and this unknown man were entirely in sync…though neither of them realized it.

  ***

  “It should be somewhere around here …” Mile muttered to herself, standing outdoors in the dead of night.

  “Sorry to keep you!”

  “Eek!” She reflexively let out a tiny shriek at the sudden voice from behind her.

  “Ah—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” It was the man with whom Mile had locked eyes that afternoon, emerging from the shadow of the trees.

  After that initial moment at the Guild, he had approached Mile on the pretext of flirting, stealthily handing Mile a slip of paper upon which was written a place and a time. Mile, thinking that this was a conversation she needed to have, slipped out of the inn after the others fell asleep, using her well-practiced sound and movement barriers.

  She had to silence him. (Well, that was dangerous phrasing, but she had to keep him from talking, anyway!)

  “I am Lycus, a C-rank hunter. Thou seemst to be quite radiant today, my lady Goddess.”

  “Noooo! P-please, stop doing that!”

  Mile had feigned godhood numerous times in the past, but to actually be spoken to that way face-to-face sent a shiver down her spine, or gave her goosebumps, or…something like that. At any rate, she could not bear to be addressed in such a manner.

  “Please, call me ‘El.’ Of course, I normally go by a false name, so take care not to call me that in front of others. Furthermore, please don’t use my false name in conjunction with talk of my true nature!”

  “Of course, Lady Visibiel.”

  After some back and forth, she finally got him to agree to addressing her as “Miss El.” That was apparently as far as she would be able to push it.